Since Florida Gov. Charlie Crist took office he helped restore voting rights for felons after they completed their sentences.
According to http://wsws.org, approximately 41 percent of the U.S. adult correctional population was black in 2006.
The Web site also added that according to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, black men have a one-in-three chance of serving time in prison at some point in their lives.
Crist pushed through a law that requires a tracking device for all ballots cast, which worried black voters in Florida were undercounted by computerized voting machines.
Let’s not forget his support for the restitution paid to the family of Martin Lee Anderson.
But wait, the real shocker is that he is a republican. Who would’ve ever thought a republican would care so much, or act like they care, about the justice and fair-treatment of minorities?
Some black lawmakers have called Crist, Florida’s “first black governor.” However, that alias may be a stretch.
We understand and appreciate his “democratic” ways and his plight for black Floridians, but that doesn’t give him a “become-black-free-card.”
Unlike other republicans, Crist seems to make a conscious effort to recruit black supporters and to fight for what is right regardless of ethnicities.
Although we won’t consider him Florida’s “first black governor,” it is safe to say he is Florida’s “first governor for blacks.”
Nyerere Davidson for the Editorial Board.